The Victorian Age The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Norton E 1830-1901

The Young Victoria http://www. imdb Queen Victoria file:///C:/Documents and Settings/Cheryl/My Documents/My Pictures/Queen Victoria_IMDB.ht

Queen Victoria 1837 – 1901 Responsible for bringing England to its highest point John Stuart Mill stated “we are living in an age of transition” Became the center of Influence in the world England transformed into an Industrial Center with, resources of steam power, railways, iron ships, looms, and printing presses In literature, the Victorian period was a “richly complex example of a society struggling with the issues and problems we identify with modernism”

The Early Period 1830-48 A Time of Troubles Time of economic distress Reform Bill 1832 – right to vote for all males owning property worth 10 pounds Included low middle classes but not working class Reform Bill – beginning of new age, economic gain 1837 – fall from prosperity, series of bad harvest, unemployment Corn Laws –refers to wheat and other grains—law regulated tariffs on imported products 1846 Corn Laws repealed, system of free trade initiated

Elizabeth Barrett Browning “The Cry of the Children “ (1843) Addresses the horrifying conditions of child labor. Children five to twelve years old working in the coal mines. Owners of mine and factories working under the “economic theory of laissez-faire, which assumed that unregulated working conditions would ultimately benefit everyone.

George Sand, French Novelist Aurore Lucile Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant (1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pseudonym George Sand considered a feminist authored literary and political criticism. Her novels: Valentine Indiana 1838 Lelia 1833 Mauprat 1837 Consuelo 1843-44 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sand

The Mid victorian Age (1848 – 70) Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert encouraged free trade Factory Act insured child labor was regulated limiting hours and enforcing improved working conditions Prince Albert opened the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, giant glass greenhouse with exhibits of modern industry and science Church Divided into 3 major divisions: Evangelicals, Low Church and High Church Darwin, The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man

The Late Period (1870-1901) Decay of Victorian Values 1887-1897 considered the Jubilee years – time of serenity and security London – center of civilization Proliferation in commodities, inventions, products that were changing into a more modern society 1867, new Reform Bill extending the right to vote to working classes Development of trade unions

Role of Women Reform bills gave men right to vote, but not women Educational and employment opportunities still limited Woman’s Question debates on women’s roles ignited Custody Act of 1839 The Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 1848 – establishment of first women’s college in London Lower classes of women worked in factories

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1109-1112) Tennyson’s home Farringford, in the village of Freshwater, the Isle of Wright Alfred Lord Tennyson with his wife Emily and sons: Arthur Hallam and Lionel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred,_Lord_Tennyson

Alfred Lord Tennyson "Tears Idle Tears" (1135-1136) Poetry invoked visual impression with emotions Creating a picture Beautiful cadences Alliteration Vowel sound “Tone becomes the sign of the feeling” (997)

Sarah Stickney Ellis The Women of England: Their Social Duties and Domestic Habits Wrote series of books for improving women’s duties http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/womenLit/literary_market/Stickney_Ellis_L.htm

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) from "Silly Novels by Lady Novelist" Criticized trivial and ridiculous plots written by some women Praised the realism of some novels Emphasis placed on realistic story telling. Her Novels: Silas Marner (1861) Adam Bede (1859) The Mill on the Floss (1860) Daniel Deronda (1876) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eliot

Charlotte, Emily, Anne Bronte Charlotte Bronte – Jane Eyre Emily Bronte – Wuthering Heights Anne Bronte – Pseudonyms Acton, Currer & Ellis Bell